A Leaf Buried in The Sand
by Anime Nightwing39
Summary: At five years old, Naruto is miserable. He doesn't yet understand why no one seems to love him, and has not yet started focusing on a goal for happiness, but that all changes when he wakes up near Suna on the night of his birthday, and his life changes forever (SUNA Naruto! With different ideals and a different team!)
1. Chapter 1

**BASICALLY IN THIS STORY, THROUGH SEVERAL EXENTUOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, NARUTO ENDS UP BEING RAISED IN SUNA AND NOT KOHANA, AS A SUNA SHINOBI.** **THIS STORY WILL INCLUDE THE SAND SIBLINGS, JIRAYA, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE LESSER KNOWN SUNA NINJA. I WILL ALSO INCLUDE MY OWN OCS, BUT THEY WONT BE THE FOCUS. PLEASE ENJOY THE STORY AND REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**

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On October 10th, five year old Naruto Uzumaki patiently waited by his front door for his Ji ji to come give him his birthday present. He had been waiting for a few hours at this point, suppressing his anxiety, knowing the Hokage would want him to focus on the good.

 _Ji ji is gonna give me a present. That's important. Not any of the mean things people always say on my birthday._

Usually people were fairly tame with the whispering and jeering when he went out in public, but on October 10th, the day of the Kyuubi attack, people seemed to get braver. They outwardly yelled and said rude things to him, even when he apologizes for whatever it was he did, and starts crying.

He remembers vividly, two years ago, when he was three, an old woman threw her heavy boot at him, hitting him in the back and sending him to the ground. Nobody helped him up.

When he looked back, the old woman was being taken away by the ANBU, and he never saw her again.

After that, none of the civilians did anything that drastic again.

Naruto heard a knock on the door and hastily snapped into attention. His smile split his face as he ran to the door with glee, not even thinking it could be anyone else but who he was expecting.

Thankfully, it was the Hokage. And the old man grinned widely as the little boy jumped into his arms.

"Oh woah, hold still Naruto, these old bones aren't what they used to be." Hiruzen laughed heartily, setting Naruto down softly.

"Thorry Ji Ji! But I'm just so happy to see you! Can you tell anything different about me? Huh? Can you? Its S's Ji Ji! I've almost got my S's down! Look see, ssssthhhhhhhseethhthse! Isn't that the most greatest thing EVER?!"

The Hokage nearly bent over laughing. "My oh my Naruto, that sure is impressive. So I assume you've been doing well?"

"I'm...I'm the greatest Ji Ji!"

Naruto hesitated for only a fraction of a second, but it was enough to send alarm bells ringing in his head.

Still, the wizened man gave Naruto a smile, though a pained one.

"Now, do you want to see your present?" He asked the child.

Naruto couldn't look more excited. He was bouncing up and down, nearly hitting the bent over Hokage in the chin with his forehead, spinning his arms around and around like a windmill.

"YETH YETH YETH YETH!" Naruto yelled with enthusiasm.

Hiruzen smirked, and extended his palm, and in a puff of smoke a book appeared in his hand.

Naruto immediately recoiled in disgust. "Ewww, you got me a book?" His Ji Ji shook his head.

"Not just any book, but The Guide To The Will of Fire, the code all Konoha shinobi follow. An you're gonna need it if you're gonna join the academy."

For once, Naruto was still. "Ac-ac-academy?" He was dumbfounded. He never thought, even after all his begging they would let _him_ into the academy, to become a ninja.

 _Demons don't become ninjas._ His mind traitorously told him. Even still, he was overcome with more happiness then he had ever felt in his life. So much so that he immediately began to cry like a baby, eyes flooded with tears and snot dripping down his nose.

He wiped his face with his raggedy shirt though, and smiled up at the Hokage with true happiness.

He threw wrapped around Hiruzen's legs with a hug. "Thank's Ji Ji! I'll make thure to become the betht ninja ever!"

The Hokage nodded with a smile. "I'm sure you will Naruto. I'm sure you will."

There was a moment of peaceful silence, a silence that could only accompany the best news of someone's life.

"Well I best be going Naruto, lots of work to be done. Have a lovely night."

And just as suddenly, all that happiness washed away like a beautiful sandy beach, smothered in cold crushing water.

"You're leaving?" Naruto said quietly, sadly.

Hiruzen gave the young Uzumaki a sad nod. "I have a lot of work to do, tonight especially. I'm sorry." He leaned down to give a quick hug, squeezing Naruto's small frame tightly, and left.

Naruto was left standing alone in his doorway for many minutes, not even crying. Not feeling anything quite yet. He only had one person in his life, and that was Ji Ji. And he only saw him _maybe_ four times a year, if he was lucky. Before this, it had been months since he had spoken to anybody that long. And on the night he feels most lonely? The worst night of the year? He only talked to him for ten minutes.

Naruto looked at his open door.

 _He never even came inside._ He thought.

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Across the street, perched on of a rooftop, sat a certain white haired Sannin, watching the entire event take place through narutos open window. And he was _pissed._

Jiraya crumpled his hand into a fist in pure rage. _Sarutobi had promised me. Swore on his life that my godson would be taken care of. Yet everytime I come here his situation is worse and worse. I have to do something._

Now, in most universes, he would more or less suck it up. In some he would go to his sensei and demand once again a better life for Naruto, for him to be treated with the love he deserves and more so. But in most realities he simply went to a bar, got drunk, and left the village that very same night, leaving Naruto alone.

But there was something different about this universe. Maybe Jiraya had been reading too many heroic stories, maybe he had been reminiscing about Kushina and Minato a little bit too much, or maybe this Jiraya was just a little braver, but whatever the case, in this reality he really _did_ do something.

He couldn't very well take him on his own though, he still needed to run a spy network, and Sarutobi would never let him. But he could have someone else take care of him.

Casting a camouflage jutsu, he jumped quietly to Naruto's building, slipping inside his floor through the fire exit. He stealthy sneaked up behind him, carefully placing a dab of low dose of painless sleeping gel on his neck. Instantly, the boy collapsed in his arms, and the Sannin quickly closed the door.

 _Unfortunately._ Jiraiya thought. _For this plan to work nobody can know he's the Kyuubi Jinjuriki. So I'm gonna have to make some adjustments to his seal._

And so, with guilt and fear in his heart, the man worked the next two hours tweaking the seal on Naruto's stomach so there was no way Naruto could draw upon the demons chakra, intentionally or otherwise. Because if he was able too, then he becomes a risk to the village in someone else's hands.

He was able, using the same technique, remove the whisker marks along the boys cheeks, so he looked like any other little blonde boy.

When he was done, he wrapped the still unconscious boy in chakra encased cloth, so not even the Byakugan could see inside and grabbed the book Sarutobi gave him, before leaving the small apartment, intentionally leaving the window open as he did.

He left the village not 10 minutes later, slipping past all defenses.

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About a mile outside of Konoha, he met with his contact, who he had messaged using summons.

The old ninja, Jiraiya couldn't remember his name, was on high alert as he met with the man. He seemed like any small noise could send him into fight or flight mode. Even when all he did was land next to him he jumped, startled.

The man, who looked to be in his fifties, breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank god Jiraiya-sama. I thought you were ANBU."

Jiraya shook his head. "Not likely, pal."

He laughed nervously. "Now whats this package you wanted out of the village?"

Jiraya unwrapped Naruto, to the shock of the greying shinobi.

"I need this boy transferred to a woman named Shina in the Land of Rivers, tell her he is in her care now, and remind her she owes me several favors. And I need it done by the time he wakes up." The blond child didn't even make a sound, he hardly breathed, to the man, he looked _dead_.

He looked like he wanted to ask questions, but knew his duty. He carefully took the boy into his arms and nodded, turning to run as fast as he could. But his shoulder was roughly grabbed by Jiraya. His head swivel back, and Jiraya was tucking a small book, newly bought it looked like, into the folds of the blonds shirt.

Jiraya leaned in close to the shinobi's ear, and whispered.

"If any harm comes to this boy, I will find you, and I won't only kill you, I'll make sure you're remembered as the dishonourable cretin who caused it."

The man nodded, a bead of sweat going down his neck.

And just like that, he disappeared into the night.

The fear in Jiraiya's gut built up. He didn't trust that man, would rather make the trip himself, but if he was seen with him he would be hunted down like a missing nin, and this guy was the best Jiraiya could do on such short notice.

At around that same time, just as the festival in celebration of the defeat of the Kyuubi was dying down, Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled into his pipe, because from his perspective, nothing had changed. And he was in fact planning on visiting Naruto again soon for a trip to Ichirakus.

 _Yes._ He thought. _That should fix his disappointment from tonight._

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It was nine hours later, after the shinobi assagined the transport mission had been running none stop in effort of his orders, when the two settled down by the mouth of a cave, at this point he was on the border between the Land of Fire, and The Land of Rivers, having decided for a quick break.

The man gulped down his water bottle with vigor, desperately exhausted. He glanced at the child, who he had safely hidden away in a bush, with a minor genjutsu to conceal him for extra protection.

He wondered what was so important about this boy that Jiraya-sama demanded this mission so quickly. _Was he his son? No impossible. They look nothing alike._

 _Could it be, that Jiraya-sama was kidnapping him?_ Even the thought seemed ridiculous, but he could think of no other reason for the circumstances.

He mused on that thought for a little while, closing his eyes as he did.

A snap of a twig snapped them open quickly.

Before he could react, a rusty, civilian knife was being thrust into his face, through his mouth, and into his skull, killing him instantly.

He never even had time to think.

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Six hours later, when it was mid day, after the bandits had long since left, taking the body of the shinobi to be sold on the blackmarket, along with all his items, Naruto finally woke up in a bush, very confused, and well rested.

Naruto wondered down the trail aimlessly looking around his surroundings. For no particular reason, he took a right when he came across a fork in the road, not left, meaning he was headed to Wind Country, not River Country.

Naruto wondered for hours, into the windy climate of Wind Country, and although it was very hot and not cold at all, Naruto shook like it was freezing. The fear of being alone, even more alone, was crushing him. All he had left of what he remembered was the book Ji Ji had given him, which he clutched tightly in his hands,

 _This is all my fault._ Naruto sniffled. _If I wasn't such a brat this wouldn't have happened._

Eventually, he long after he had crossed into the desert, he saw a small camp in the distance, with people.

But he didn't walk over, instead, he simply watched them. Too afraid of rejection, like he had faced his entire life, he watched them smile and laugh in the distance. He wanted more than anything to go over there, talk to them. But he knew, he knew they would hate him like everyone else.

"Hey kid, you ok?"

Naruto jumped a foot in the air, and spun around to see a man in a green flak jacket, with deeply browned skin and black, fuzzy hair, to look down at him.

Naruto gaped at him for a second, then spun around to see the same man still laughing and grinning across the desert with the other people. He spun around again, and the man was still there.

"Theres two of you!" Naruto shouted, astonished. The man nodded a little, with a kind smile.

"Yeah, sorry I'm just a water clone. But are you ok? Why are you out here all alone?"

Naruto finally realized. "You're a shinobi!" He shouted again, not even registering the question.

"Yeah I am. Now why are you here, and more importantly, Are. You. Ok?" The man put more emphasis on the words this time.

Naruto blinked. "Oh, uhhh. I guess. I woke up in a bush all alone all the way over there." Naruto pointed west. But then quickly reconsidered.

"Or maybe it was that way?" He pointed again in a completely opposite direction. "Or that way? I really don't know. I'm sorry."

The man smiled a little. "Hey no need to be sorry. Do you know where you came from? Originally?"

Naruto tried very very hard to think of the name of his village, it definitely started with a K.

 _Ko-ko-Koleslaw? No that starts with a C._ Naruto thought.

"Hehe, I'm really sorry, but I have no idea. But it wath definitely, that way!"

The man knelt down next to him. "You sure?"

Naruto's finger drooped, "No…"

The man laughed then, kind and warm. It reminded him of Ji Ji's laugh.

"Here." He said. "You want some food?"

Naruto lit up like a christmas tree. "Oh yeah! I can't remember the last time I ate!"

That seemed to put some concern on the dark skinned mans face, but he moved on.

"Come on, why don't I introduce you to my friends? They've got food. And while I'm at it, you can tell me your name."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" The boy yelled, grabbing his hand and running his little legs in the direction of his friends.

"Haha! Nice to meet you Naruto, I'm Togashi Sanetomo."

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 **NARUTO IS IN WIND COUNTRY! WHOOO! A LOT OF THINGS ARE HAPPENING NEXT CHAPTER, SO BUCKLE UP! AND MAKE SURE TO REVIEW! IT MOTIVATES ME TO WRITE MORE.**


	2. Chapter 2

**HELLO AND WELCOME! I KINDA JUST SHAT THIS CHAPTER OUT, SO SORRY IF ITS BAD. PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW! IT HELPS ME IMPROVE AND ENCOURAGES ME TO WRITE MORE! THE ONLY REASON I GOT THE SECOND CHAPTER OUT SO FAST WAS BECAUSE OF THAT GUY THAT REVIEWED. SO THANK YOU!**

 _ **ITALICS ARE THOUGHTS.**_

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Naruto, after several hours chatting and eating with the group of Suna chunin, was brought into the village for an check up and interview. At Least, that was how Togoshi described it.

They all had to go down these stairs in the middle of the ground that went a hundred feet down, because as it turned out, Suna was located at the bottom of a giant chasm in the middle of the rocky and sandy Wind Country Desert. Togashi said that ninja can just walk up and down the walls though! So they don't have to even use the stairs!

So after going through the gate, Togashi and Naruto split off from the rest of the group to go to the hospital, while everyone else headed to mission report. The incredibly clingy boy still held onto the mans hand even now, dragging him along in the wrong directions every few seconds.

The first impression of Suna that Naruto had? It was different than his last home. Besides the whole, in a giant hole thing , it was much dustier. And also much more compact. Where in Konoha you could fit 10, maybe fifteen people all across the street, In Suna you could fit maybe 5 or 6.

And the buildings! Most of them were round like gourds and cylinders. And almost none of them were made out of wood. The vast majority were made out of compact sandstone, or brick.

And the best part? Nobody was glaring at him! Not a single person looked mean at all!

 _This place is so cool!_ Thought Naruto. He breathed in the experience deeply, figuratively and literally, which immediately made him gag.

"Gross! This place stinks like rotten milk! What's up with that Togashi?" Naruto asked the man.

Togashi smiled a little sadly. "Yeah I guess you could say that's a side effect of the last war. You see we were never a relatively big shinobi village, but the last war ruined us economically. Which means we can't afford to pay laborers to clean the city up. Which means it smells awful."

"Huh?"

"The leader can't pay people to be clean, so they aren't." He summarized.

"Oh." Said Naruto, his mood slightly down. But he was back in a second. "Well at least you're in a hole! Thaths so cool! No evil ninjas will find you down here!"

Much to Narutos pride, that got a full blown laugh. "You could look at it like that. But we mainly did it because of all the shade. Being in the desert can be very energy consuming, so we made sure to set up shop deep in here so we'll always have shade, unless the sun is directly above us."

"You sand ninja are thmart." Naruto decided.

Soon they arrived at the hospital, and TOgashi quietly whispered something to the un guard nurse, who glanced at Naruto with concern and led them to a back room.

As Naruto sat on the table, legs swinging off the edge, he waited with Togashi as the nurse left to get the doctor. Apparently they were in a hurry because very quickly a bearded, bald, and baggy eyed doctor came in to check him up.

"So what seems to be the problem?" He asked as he looked Naruto over, writing something down in his clipboard as he did.

"Naruto here was found wandering the desert alone with no food or water, I was a little worried, so I fed him and gave him water before bringing him here."

The doctor actually looked _concerned_. "My thats not good at all. When was the last time you ate or drank?"

"Uhh.. about 20 minutes ago?"

"No I mean before that."

Naruto hummed. "Maybe...2 days ago, maybe a week. I really don't know how long I was asleep."

The doctor raised an eyebrow, and Togashi leaned in to whisper something in his ear. Naruto managed to pick up some of it, but not all of it. Something about calling someone else in, and getting him a place to stay.

So the doctor left, after giving naruto some herbs to help from possible heat stroke, and they waited again.

Even quicker this time, someone else walked in the room. She was younger than the doctor, and wore a similar flak jacket to Togashi, but she had a long coat over it.

Her blue eyes were calculating yet kind at the same time as she studied him for a second, before moving into the room and closing the door behind her.

"Naruto," She started "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Well I woke up this morning in a buth. And I don't know how I got there! I walked down the path, and ended up in the desert, and then walked around for a while until I found Togashi-ni and his team! Now I'm here. And then you asked me what happened, then I said that-"

"Thats good for now Naruto." Togashi stopped him, putting a hand on his head.

"Do you remember the name of the place you came from? You're village?" She asked

"Nope!" Naruto replied cheerfully.

She glanced over at Togashi, and he nodded, so she continued. "Do you remember anything significant about the village? Any way we can get you back to where you belong? To your parents?"

Naruto suddenly tensed up. He lowered his head as he spoke quietly. "I don't have any parenth. I've lived alone as long as I can remember."

She placed a hand on his shoulder, to match the one still on his head. "I'm sorry about that Naruto. Truly I am. Growing up an orphan must be hard."

It would have been nice if she had ended it there.

"But I need you to think. Was there anything of note about your village?"

The answer came to him immediately. The four faces on the mountain. Naruto knew he wasn't the smartest of kids, but he knew he had to be smart right now, so what came to him just as fast was the fact that he knew they would send him back there if he told them, so even though he felt bad about it, he lied.

"No...nothing...it was just a village…"

The adults glanced at each other, then stepped out of the room for a second.

As soon as the door closed Naruto leaped off the examination table and pressed his ear against the door to listen. He only managed to catch bits and pieces.

"spy...orphan...victim...predator...Orochimaru...chakra…"

 _What the heck are they talking about?_ Thought Naruto with confusion.

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Outside the door chunin Togashi Sanetomo and special Jonin Hata Megu camly spoke about how severe the situation could be.

"He may be a spy. I should call in Interrogation." Hata told him.

Togashi scoffed. "He's an orphan, not black ops. This doesn't need anything but the civilian branch."

"I'm not saying he's not a victim." She argued back. "I'm just saying that weather he knows it or not, he's probably not here by accident. I don't want to fucking hurt the kid, just talk to him."

"Did you sense anything off about him? Any seals or anything?"He asked.

She shook her head. "No, nothing except a shit tonna chakra. He probably has as much as me."

His eyes widened at that.

"Thats...Not natural." He finished.

Hata nodded. "Damn straight. I know joinin with less than half the chakra that kid has, not to mention how he was able to survive so long without food or water in the blazing heat.."

Then, his mind started to put the pieces together, ton of chakra, no memory, a little kid…

" I think I know what he is." He said at last, putting a palm to his head.

"What?" Hata asked.

"An experiment. You know Orochimaru? S rank criminal of Leaf? On the run for murdering and experimenting on young children?"

It started to dawn on her. "And intelligence says he just started up a small village of his own, very new and plain so far…"

"Just like Naruto described." Togashi finished

She narrowed her eyes into nothing. "So our working theory is...what? That he was an experiment of the Leaf snake's, which is why he's so young with so much chakra and such regenerative powers? Then how did he escape?"

Togashi shrugged "Maybe he didn't? For all we know Orochimaru thought he was a failed experiment, so he left him in a bush on the side of the road for the animals to eat. Guess he miscalculated."

They stood in silence for a few seconds. There were some holes in it of course, but that was the only theory that made sense to them at the moment.

"I have to report this to the Kazakage immediately." Hata told him. He nodded.

"You go, I'll try to work out a sleeping schedule for him here at the hospital."

In a blur, she was gone. Leaving him alone. Well, alone with Naruto. He smirked. "I know you're there Naruto, no need to hide."

The sound of surprised yelling and a thump like someone landed on their butt made Togashi laugh again. He slyly opened the door to see Naruto pouting at him from the ground.

"You didn't hear anything did you?" Togashi teased, knowing he didn't.

Naruto, if possible, pouted more. "No. Only some words."

The fact that he was able to hear anything through a double soundproofed door was concerning, but Togashi put it aside for the moment.

Stepping in, he took a seat on the table, and patted the place next to him, gesturing for Naruto o sit with him.

Excitedly, Naruto scaled the table with ease, choosing to stand on the table instead of sit.

"Ha! I'm taller than you!" The five year old said mockingly.

Togashi chose not to comment on that, instead gently pushing Naruto into a sitting position.

"Look Naruto, I'm not sure how to say this, but I think you're gonna end up staying here, In Suna."

"Yay!"

That was not the reaction he was expecting. "Yay?" Togashi asked quizzically

"Yay!" Naruto confirmed. "My village sucked donkey turds! And I love it here! Plus if I'm here I can live with you Togashi-nii!"

The chunin didn't know how to respond to that. He liked the kid, sure. He had definitely grown on him, but he also was always on missions, and wouldn't be able to care for him. That's not even taking into consideration the fact that he didn't know crap about raising someone.

 _But you always wanted a little brother_ Togashi thought to himself, and he had the feeling naruto could take care of himself relatively well while he was gone...

And what was he supposed to think about the fact that Naruto's home was apparently so awful that he was overjoyed to leave it? Even to come here of all places?

"I'll think about it Naruto. But for now, what do you want to do today?"

It took zero time for Naruto to think. "I want to become a ninja!"

A laugh burst from Togashi's throat as he leaned back t keep from falling off.

"Oh do you now? Well Suna ninja academy students don't start until they're six. So you'll have to wait a year."

Naruto blanched, "But I wanna be a ninja _nooooow_." He whined out.

Togashi rubbed Naruto's head. "That's good, but you have to start with the basics first." Slowly The chunin showed Naruto all of the basic hand seals, and instructed him to show them back to him.

"How is this gonna teach me to be an awesome ninja Togashi-ni? I need to learn how to walk up walls!" Naruto shook his head against his instructions.

Togashi shook his head right back. "No that comes later. Now watch this." In an instant, Togashi flashed through six hand seals and puffed up his cheeks, out he spit a small stream of water from his mouth that arced like a lance, stabbing deep into the ground.

"Woah! I LOVE hand seals!" Naruto exclaimed, and so the pair spent the rest of the night talking about random things as Naruto practiced. Eventually, after a long day, and a quick drawing up of Naruto's medical file, both classified and not, and an odd conversation with Togashi about someone called Orochimaru and if he had met him before, Naruto said he hadn't, Naruto walked back with Togashi to his apartment.

For the first time ever, Naruto spent the whole day smiling, never once did he cry, not once, because there was no reason to. Because in Suna, everything was good for Naruto.

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Just as Naruto and Togashi were entering the building, Garra watched them with sadness.

They seemed so happy, so fulfilled now that they've found a friend. Gaara wished he had friends.

 **Fool...you don't need FRIENDS, all you need is your mother…** That voice again, called out to him, and he desperately grasped onto it, his only companion.

 **Yes. You're mother is telling you to kill that boy, as soon as possible. He has what** **you need...BLOOD. YOU NEED HIS BLOOD…**

"Yes mother." Gaara said allowed. He knew what he had to do. And he would listen to his mother.

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The next morning Naruto woke up on the couch of Togashi's apartment clutching the book Ji Ji gave him, he had read it all night, and he had woken up early, so really he only got maybe 2 hours of sleep, but that was fine with him. He purposely stomped his way into Togashis room, and the sound of him groaning at the sound made Naruto giggle.

When he was in, he very loudly and very abruptly yelled into his ear.

"I'M LEAVING TO TAKE A WALK BYE!" and scurried out the room before he could get in trouble with his new housemate.

He ran out the apartment and into the streets, remembering this time not to breath too much.

As he walked around town, he noticed most of the people weren't up yet, it was just him really.

As he did, he also saw a line of sand that looked like it was being pulled like a snake down the street. Naruto, being the overly curious child he was, followed it of course.

He kept running to catch it, but it seemed just out of his reach. He went faster, but only ended up tripping and falling.

"Come on! Lemma catch you!" Naruto spoke to nothing as he helplessly chased the sand down an alleyway.

As soon as he did, it stopped and he grabbed it triumphantly. "Ha ha! Got...you?" Naruto questioned as the sand fell between his chubby fingers. He saw it move once again, in fact, all the sand around him was moving, churning, twisting…

Quicker than he could blink, sand had smothered his legs so he couldn't move, and risen up to grab at his arms.

"Ah-Hey! Get off thand! No ge' off!"" Naruto struggled helplessly against his bonds as much as he could, which wasn't much.

"Its no use." A little, meek voice spoke calmly in front of him. Naruto looked up to see a little, pale redhead boy a scarf and no eyebrows. Wait! Hey!

"You don't have any eyebrows!" Naruto told him somewhat accusingly. Gaara blinked.

"...yes that is correct." He said finally, unable to come up with anything else.

"Ok thank you for being honest-Wait a minute! Let me go!"

This Gaara was familiar with. "No. Mother wants your blood, so she will have it." Gaara reaches up to kill him with a swipe of his hand and-

"You don't have to kill me! I didn't do anything to you!" Naruto protested.

"That doesn't matter." Gaara said quietly. "Mother wants you dead."

"So?" Asks Naruto. "You should do what _you_ want to do. Not your dumb mother. You're dumb if you say I'm wrong."

Gaara didn't know how to react to that infallible logic, so he simply ignored it.

"Mother is all I have…" Gaara whispered. "If I don't listen, she'll leave me…"

"Thats dumb too! If she really really _really_ loved you she wouldn't make you do things you don't want to do. Like killing me! Don't kill me!" Naruto desperately cried out.

He...had never thought about it like that. "But, but if she leaves me, I'll be alone." Gaara sniffled once, and the attempted sand coffin fell away with his tears.

Naruto's first instinct was to run, but he saw himself in the strange eyebrowless boy, and his conscious told him to stay.

"Well...I've been alone all my life. It was only today that I finally met someone that didn't hate me. So I get it how it can suck. But I know what it's like not to be alone anymore, and so will you!"

"Wh-what?" Gaara asked. "You're like me?"

"Yeah! I...don't have any friends, except Togashi, but he doesn't count, and you don't have any friends, so we can be each other's friends." Naruto held out his hand to shake, and Gaara stared at it.

"My...friend? You want to be my friend?"

Naruto nodded. "Sure! You seem super awesomey cool! Can you teach me what you did with the sand?"

"I don't know." Gaara said in a quiet voice, still awed by the events taking place. In the back of his mind, Motherraged and roared and demanded blood, but for once. Gaara was able to ignore her.

"We'll find out together then! Maybe we'll even be on the same shinobi team! You are a shinobi right?"

Gaara shook his head. "Thats impossible. My father told me he is planning on specifically choosing the top students my age to be on a team with me, and if they don't want to…"

 _There's always your siblings._ His mind supplied.

Naruto humphed. "Well I'll just have to be the best at everything! I'll be the rookie of the year! I know it! And after that, Kazekage! And after that, grand supreme ruler of earth! Anything to be strong enough so I can be your friend!"

 _So you won't be alone,_ Went unsaid.

Gaara stared at Naruto. This boy, this _civilian_ seemed completely unafraid of him, and what's more, had shared the same life, yet he seemed...bright. Happy. It was inspiring to the young Gaara, to see someone be so brave and kind, even though they struggled through the same existence.

The corner of Gaaras mouth curls up in a shy, almost smile, and he grasps Naruto's hand and shakes it once.

"Friends then."

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 **OK SO I KNOW IT GOT A BIT CRACKY AT THE END THERE, BUT THATS JUST BECAUSE NARUTO IS IMMATURE, SO I'M SORRY. NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE A TIMESKIP OF EIGHT YEARS, UPTO WHEN NARUTO IS GRADUATING THE ACADEMY. PLEASE PLEASE** **PLEASE** **GIVE ME FEEDBACK, I AM ALWAYS TRYING TO IMPROVE, AND I DO THAT BY READING REVIEWS. THANK YOU FOR READING AND GOODNIGHT.**


	3. Chapter 3

**HELLO! PLEASE REVIEW! IT GIVES ME MOTIVATION! IF YOU GUYS REVIEW AS MUCH AS YOU ARE, I MIGHT POST EVERYDAY.**

 _ **ITALICS ARE THOUGHTS**_

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"Wooohoo!" Naruto yelled in joy as he jumped from one building to the next, using chakra enhanced legs to soar through the air with ease. He landed in a slide on the roof of a curved building, jumping off at the last minute before he fell off.

The twelve year old academy student of Suna was having the time of his life. He had purposefully waited ten extra minutes after he was supposed to leave for class so he could challenge himself by racing there.

Landing on the corner of the hospital, and jumping across once again, Naruto took a second to admire his outfit while he was in the air.

He wore a loose, flowy t light blue shirt, with a steep V-neck that revealed the mesh armor underneath, he lacked any sleeves, but his hands adorned a pair of dark grey combat gloves, which had storage seals on the inside so he could call out small shuriken or kunai. His pants were a dark black color, and around his waist was wrapped a sandy coloured shawl like cloth, which was thick both for armor, and the explosive seals Togashi had put on them, incase of an emergency.

Snapping back to attention at his rapid descent, Naruto focused on how he was gonna survive.

Grabbing on to the side of a building and swinging down he eyed the open window of the academy, which he had bribed someone to open for him. He landed in a roll on the ground floor of the village and ran at his full speed to the window.

He could see Tensai-Sensei starting roll call, so he had to be fast. She was facing the board, so she shouldn't notice his entrance, luck seemed to be on his side.

He dived through the window just before the teacher turned around, sliding into a seat and fist pumping the girl he landed next too.

 _I'm so awesome, that was a piece of cake!_ Naruto thought, only slightly out of breath.

"Uzumaki, Naruto." The teacher called out with absolutely zero emotion.

"Here!" Naruto raised his hand cheerfully.

"Finally. I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up." Somehow she was able to make that sentence alone bring the excitement of Naruto's down to a low simmer, not a bubbly burst.

"Today will be your last written test before the finals tomorrow, which will be the deciding factor on if you graduate." The teacher started to pass the papers around the class, still speaking in that monotone.

"This test will be on the History of the village and its allies, as well as basic algebra and antidote mixing."

Naruto tuned the woman out at that point, he knew he wasn't good at any of that stuff. Despite how hard he and Togoshi had studied together, it never seemed to stick. If he crammed the night before a test for hours and hours, he might get some of it right, but he forgot it soon after. He ended up spending so much time studying that it severely cut into his training time, so he did what he had too. Cheat.

He didn't like shortcuts, he hated them, in fact, but with all the effort he put into it, and the fact he knew he would never achieve his goal if he was in the middle of the class, he didn't consider it a shortcut at all. He simply thought of it as another way to win.

For the last year he had been sneaking into the academy after dark, disguised as a teacher and picking the locks on the doors, he was able to change his test scores using correct ones he had acquired personally. So with his new amazing grades, as well as his good physical skills, he quickly rose to the top of the class, much to the jealousy of some of his peers.

They figured out someone was doing something quickly though, so he started to instead write in code onto his desk the answers, they never figured out that trick, but still, for variety's sake, he still kept switching it up.

Sometimes he would simply swap papers with another student, other times he would elaborately bribe random shinobi to knock the teacher out and then redo his test for him (That one took _a lot_ of work).

Today he had pre placed a seal using invisible ink into his classmate, Maki's table. And placed a mirror seal on his table, so whatever she wrote, automatically was scribed onto his. All he had to do was pretend to write, and he was all good.

And he was, Maki finished relatively early, and Naruto made sure to wait a good few minutes after her to get up, handing in the paper with a cheeky grin.

Tensai-Sensei looked equally amused, to Naruto's confusion, but he just brushed it off as nothing.

 _Its amazing really_ He thought. _In Suna, we're desperate for new shinobi, so everyone actually_ _wants_ _me to succeed. As long you're motivated, which I so am, then anybody can become a good ninja in Suna._

He glanced at the cracked walls of the classroom and stained floorboards, and frowned. _Good Ninja doesn't equal good resources though. This place hasn't been fixed up in years, maybe decades._

He sat back and lazily pulled out his Will Of Fire book, now with a different cover. He had read it dozens of times, but it always felt comfortable. It reminded him of Ji Ji, and everything he taught him. While he didn't miss Konoha, he certainly missed him.

Before long everyone had finished, and they were all being shuffled into the practice room for some sparring. Naruto tucked his book into his waste band, and ran to catch up.

As they respectfully sat in a circle to watch their classmates beat the snot out of eachother, Naruto inwardly was shaking whooping at the chance to show off. Naruto watched as his classmate sucker punch his opponent, but she grabbed his arm before he could pull away and kicked him in the ankle, before throwing him over her hip and onto the ground, as she did, she put her knees onto his legs, pinning him.

"Winner, Aaki! Next up is Naruto Uzumaki and Shira Kondei!" Naruto punched his palm in excitement, and ran up to the stage, Shira close behind. Aaki and her opponent slowly walked off.

The rest of the class whispered in gossip. Shira, was the top taijutsu user in the school, but Naruto was no slouch himself, and he was he top of the year. So who would win?

Naruto settled into his standard, lazy jumping lizard stance, while Shira moved his footing into a solid position, and raised his arms up in a defensive stance.

"Sorry Shira buddy, But I'm gonna absolutely destroy you!" Shira raised an eyebrow.

"Always so confident, Uzumaki-san. It will be your downfall." Shira stated back, just as confidently.

"Alright you guys know the rules. No chakra, weapons, or bloodlines. No crotch shots, or eye gouges. And no killing."

They both nodded, understandably, and Tensai-sensei took a deep breath.

"Go!"

Naruto jumped forward first, right in front of Shira, but then jumped to the side to avoid the attempted grab, he jumped forward again, striking at his ear.

Shira blocked it with his forearm, and retaliated with a kick. It caught Naruto in the ribs harshly, but he twisted the foot around, forcing Shira to flip and land on his hands.

The blonde pushed Shira down harshly, hoping to force his head into the ground, but he just rolled into a crouch, ducking out of the way of an axe kick.

Dashing forward, Shira delivered three side by side jab punches, back to back. Naruto was able to dodge them, but he was being pushed back.

Naruto suddenly kicked his leg forward, hoping to catch him off balance, but Shira's stance was too steady, all it did was cost him a punch to the collarbone.

To retaliate, Naruto ducked low, and as Shira moved forward, grabbed him around the stomach, before lifting him up, and slamming him back down into the ground.

Naruto immediately put pressure on Shiras throat with his elbow. Pinning his legs down with his own.

"Tap out! I don't want to hurt you!" Naruto told him. Instead, Shira slapped at his arm, pushing it away, before punching Naruto in the eye with his other hand.

"Ow! Damn it!"

Shira managed to wrangle his leg out from under Naruto, kicking in the ribs and sending him flying off.

As Naruto rolled away, Shira dived to pin him, but Naruto was prepared. He kicked out with both his feet, launching the boy back across the arena, giving Naruto time to get up and get his bearings.

As Shira stood back up, Naruto was already running at him, and he was soon blocking and dodging powerful haymaker strikes aimed at the face and collar bone. Shira sent a speedy knife hand at Naruto's nose, but Naruto just leaned forward, headbutting the in coming attack.

There was a *POP* as Shira's finger snapped out of its socket, and Naruto quickly continued the assault.

"AH!" Shira yelled in pain, clutching his hand.

The blonde slammed both hands over Shiras ears, making his head spin and ring, before punching him as hard as he could in the stomach.

The wind got knocked out of Shira as he bent over from the attack, before puking on the ground in a chunky mess.

Naruto didn't stop, he grabbed the silver haired boy's head, and cracked his nose against the incoming knee to the face. Naruto grabbed the hem of his shirt, stepped his foot onto Shiras toes, and flipped him over in one smooth motion, Shira spun in the air once, before landing face down on the ground.

Naruto was met with clapping from his fellow classmates. While in Konoha he would have been feared for being so brutal, here he was respected. He laughed as he saw some students hand over wands of cash to other students, _Betting money._ He thought.

"That was very good Naruto." Tensai told the boy, writing something down in her clipboard.

Naruto nodded in thanks with a bright smile as he helped Shira stand on wobbly feet. "Uhh, you ok?" He asked, concerned.

Shira nodded. "Yeah I'm fine, just gonna have to see the medic." Shira grimaced as he held his now purple finger.

Naruto laughed and smacked him on the back. "Yeah that's my bad. Guess I'm just too good, eh?"

Shira nodded with a smile, before wobbling to the awaiting med-nin.

The rest of the school day was boring for Naruto, he was filled with excitement for tomorrow's test, and couldn't wait through all these last stretches until he could go home and sleep so he could wake up and become a ninja.

So instead, Naruto snuck out, leaving a bushin behind. As long as nobody talked to it, or made it move beyond basic stuff, he should be free.

Just as he was sneaking out all ninja like, he turned the corner and bumped into a familiar face.

"Grandma Chiyo!" He yelped in surprise.

The old woman glared fiercely at the implication that she was anything other than a young beauty, but let it go for now.

"Hello boy. You wouldn't happen to be sneaking out would you?" She glared harder, daring him to say anything else.

Naruto sweatdropped. "Uhhh...No? I'm just going for a pee break."

Chiyo nodded very seriously. "That makes sense. Now run along now, I've got stuff to do."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Stuff? What kinda stuff do you do? Sit in an attic in the dark? Why are you here?" He asked suspiciously.

"Thats none of your concern, brat! Now run along!" Naruto huffed, but complied, dashing past Chiyo and out the academy door.

As he left, Chiyo pulled out a small, wooden mouse toy from her cloak. She put it on the ground and made a hand seal.

"Singular Wood Eye Jutsu!" She called out, and suddenly, she could see through one of her eyes, in the little toys perspective.

She slowly attached a chakra string to the little thing, and made it scurry out the door, after Naruto.

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The first thing Naruto did when he left was try to go find Gaara, who he knows recently got back from a mission. He first checked the Ramen stand, but he wasn't there, then he checked the training ground, but he wasn't there either, so he set off to the meat shack.

Growing up, Naruto always kept his promise to Gaara, that he would be with him, that they would be friends together, and the results couldn't have been better.

Gaara, who used to be homicidal and not a small bit lonely, learned that being lonely and that you forgiveness is the path to happiness, forgiveness of the people who wronged you, of your family. And not to forgive them for their sake, but your own.

Still, Gaara wasn't perfect. Naruto would be the first to admit that. He remembers one particular incident when they were nine, and a homeless man attempted to stab Naruto in the back, Gaara had killed the man slowly and painfully, smothering him in his own ground up flesh.

It was fine though, everyone had their bad days.

Naruto spotted a tuff of red hair out of the corner of his eye, and smiled. "Yo Gaara! Save me a seat!" Gaara looked up from his gizzard and salted tongue, then back at the row of empty seats on his right and left.

Naruto filtered through the crowd, finally reaching Gaara and pulling him into a tight hug, lifting him up and out of the chair.

"Hey Gaara! How are things?!" He yelled, smiling brightly.

Gaara used his sand to pry Naruto's arms off, and gently sat down to finish.

"I am well, Naruto. How are you?" Naruto hoppe into the seat next to him, smiling still.

"I"m great! I kicked Shira's ass today in sparring, and Togashi is still teaching me lots about seals! It's so good to see you though! It's been months."

Gaara hummed and he chewed his tongue. "Yes, it was the Vernal Equinox, correct?"

Naruto nodded quickly, snagging a bite of the gizzard.

"Yes our teams mission to Tea Country was most fascinating. We encountered a new species of summon animal. Foxes, if you would believe it. "

Gaara had, of course, been a Ninja for a number of years now, working alongside his sister and brother, usually in missions outside the country. Usually it would be unheard of, but because of Gaara's...unique, skill set. It was deemed a nessesity for him to be put to work as soon as possible.

"That's so cool!" Naruto gushed through a mouthful of food.

Gaara nodded. "And Temari got feild promoted to chunin." He said.

Naruto choked harshly on his food, and his friend made no move to help. Finally, Naruto managed to swallow in two gulps.

"What!?" He said. "Thats crazy awesome! If Temari-taichou was promoted, I'm probably gonna be on your team!"

Gaara nodded silently.

"And I'll be one step closer to my dream!" Naruto said determnly.

Naruto thought back to when Togashi was walking with him down the street, four years ago.

 _Flashback_

" _Togashi-ni? Why is Suna poor?" Naruto asked his adopted brother._

" _Because of the last war, Naruto." He patiently told him_.

" _Well, yeah, duh. You told me that already. But I meant why doesn't the Kazekage do anything about it?"_

 _Togashi hesitated. "Because there's a lot of problems in the village Naru, and not a lot of money. So sometimes things like trash pickup, or high quality materials, or orphanages."_

 _Naruto looked around, and everywhere he looked there was poverty. To his right there was a small store that had been broken into, completely trashed, to his left he saw two homeless men fighting over a dead cat, if he glanced behind them, he would see a small motley crew of orphans, running down the street in chase of a more wealthy nobleman._

 _Just like his life in Konoha, it didn't seem fair to these people. He was lucky, he had Togashi-ni, but not everyone had a Togashi-ni to give them a home, or train them, or watch funny movies with him._

" _I bet you could make a better Kazekage, ni-san." Naruto told him._

 _Togashi laughed a sad laugh. "I'm not nearly strong enough, and I don't want too, not to mention that I would have to have some sort of connection to Rasa-sama."_

 _Naruto thought for a second. What if...He was everyone's Togashi-ni?_

" _It's decided, then!" Naruto said suddenly. "I'm gonna become the next Kazekage!"_

 _Togashi rubbed his head fondly. "I'm sure you will Naru. I'm sure you will."_

 _Flashback END_

"I was serious then." Naruto told Gaara. "And I'm serious now. I'm gonna be Kazekage, and I'm gonna fix this village. I never go back on my word."

Gaara nods, and grabs Naruto's shoulder in a brotherly way. "I know, Naruto. I know."

"Aww isn't this cute! You guys been catching up?" Temari suddenly appears behind them, teasing as always.

"Temari!" Naruto yells as he tackles his practically older sister the stomach.

"Hey squirt, still not a genin I see." She says.

Naruto turns bright red. "Hey pigtails, still no boyfriend I see." He shot right back.

Temari scowled. "Hey you wanna go spar for a round or two? Maybe I can show you why you're still a genin?"

"Bring it, Brick face!"

"Pipsqueak!"

"Sasquatch!"

"Baby face!"

Gaara sighed as two of his most precious people teared each other to shreds with insults.

 _All I wanted was to eat in peace._ He thought in misery.

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 **HEY GUYS THANKS FOR READING! MAKE SURE TO REVIEW IF YOU WANT ME TO UPLOAD FASTER, AND IF YOU'RE CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT NARUTO LOOKS LIKE, HERE'S A LINK TO HIS OUTFIT r/Naruto/comments/8e64e9/my_au_version_of_naruto/**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey y'all, Please remember to drop a review, it helps motivate me. And I have many plans for this fic in the future, so if you are curious I highly suggest you message me, maybe we can share ideas and you could influence the plot.**

 _ **Thoughts are in italics.**_

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 _Todays gonna be a good day._ Naruto thought as he woke up. Today was the day he became a genin, the first day in the rest of his life. He quickly showered and pulled his clothes on, checking twice to make sure he had all his weapons, before leaving the house.

He wanted to childishly check Togashi's room to see if he was just asleep, but he knew Togashi was out on mission. In fact he usually was. 70% of the time, his brother was working on one mission or another, but Naruto didn't mind. He knew that Togashi was just doing what he could to help the village, and knowing he cared was more than enough.

 _Besides_ Naruto thought. _I've got Gaara, and Temari, and all the people at the academy. So I'm good._

When Naruto got there, nobody had started yet, they were using the given prep time to make sure they were ready, but Naruto chose to take it immediately.

He flew through the written exam, the poison stage, rope escape, jutsu stage as well as the throwing weapons stage, the obstacle course was a little tricky, but it was fine. The only real problem was the one vs one fight with Tensai-sensei. He did well enough, managing to last a full four minutes against her, before he was knocked out of the arena, but that was to be expected, she wasn't a chunin for nothing.

And...he passed. With flying colors. Rookie of the Year even.

They told him he could get his headband at the Kazekage office, so Naruto ran there.

 _This is amazing! I can't believe I'm a genin! A ninja of the hidden sand! Watch out Rasa! I'm coming for your hat!_ Just as he was thinking such happy thoughts, a figure, dressed in all black with a hood over their face, shimmered into existence.

Naruto came to a screeching stop, barley not running into him. Naruto's instincts yelled at him to move, but he didn't do anything.

It was only when two mre figures, equally ominous looking, appeared on either side of him and grabbing his arms, that he panicked.

He summoned a kunai to his hand, slashing the wrist of the person on his right, and kicked out to the person in front of him. His foot was caught easily, and before he could react, the person on his left stabbed a needle into his neck. And it all went black.

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He woke up with a jolt, chained to a chair in a white room.

He immediately assessed the situation.

 _No windows or doors that I can see._

He struggled against his binds, only to find he they were impregnable.

 _Seem to be steel chains, they took my gloves and weapon pouch. Must have drugged me_

 _asleep and awake._

In front of him, sat the casual form of one of his hooded assailants, sitting cross legged in a metal chair.

 _One enemy that I know of, does not seem to be armed, are there any weapons here..._

He looked to his right, and in his horror he saw a wall of incricate blades, saws, knuckle busters, blowtorches and rope.

 _Torture. Their gonna torture me._

The man, he could only assume he was a man based on frame, got up and walked casually over to Naruto, kicking his feet.

"Well look what I've found here. A wee little Genin out for a stroll. Perfect."

Naruto felt more fear than he ever hd in that moment, but he started talking before he could think.

"What do you want you hooded bastard? What? You just like picking on kids huh? Well I'm gonna shove me foot so far up your ass you can taste my rotten toenails! How about that, huh?!"

The man looked bored, and when he reached into his cloak and pulled out a long knife, the man pressed it, almost gently, into Naruto's chin.

"I need the names, ranks, and locations of every Suna shinobi you can think of, or I'm gonna start cutting off meat."

Naruto shivered with fear, but didn't back down, even against his self interest. "Fuck you! Even if I did know anything I wouldn't tell you shit! You're just a wannabe kidnapper, not like you would do anything with the information anyway! Probably just cry cause you know you you couldn't stand a chance against any of the Suna Ninja!"

The attacker pressed harder into Naruto's chin, causing his blood to run don the blade.

"You must want me to kill you." The man said. "Slowly, with hot knives and many beatings…"

Suddenly, the man's fist rocketed up and punched Naruto in the ribs, making him cry out in agony.

The man roughly pulled back Naruto's hair, forcing him to look the hooded man in the eyes. They were blood red.

"Are you going to tell me what I want to know?" He said slowly. "Or will I get to have the joy of using you as target practice?"

The thought occurred to Naruto, then, that he could just lie to him. Just tell him false names. But somehow he knew he would know. He would know and he would kill him for it.

 _Tell him the truth! Tell him about everything!_

His mind, desperately trying to survive, thought up the only way. But Naruto refused. He refused to give his village, his home, up to this guy. If he dies right here right now, he dies with honor.

So he spit in the mans face.

"Is that your final decision? Because I can just kidnap someone else, anyone else really...and they would tell me what I want to know…"

Naruto swallowed.

"Yeah. So shove it you old fart."

The man leaned in real close to Naruto's ear.

"In that case...you pass."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?"

The man pulled down his cloak to reveal a pleasant, chubby face, with round glasses.

"You pass kid! That was the final test before you became a genin! And you passed with flying colors."

Naruto gaped. "But-but I already graduated the academy!"

The guy nodded. "Yeah you did. But not our test" He reached into his cloak and pulled out a Suna Headband. "Here. You deserve this."

Naruto looked down, and his chains were gone , _where they ever really there?_ He thought.

"Wait!" Naruto said with halt. "That guy who I cut up, is he ok?" The man nodded.

"Yeah," The man said. "Those were just my mud clones. Don't worry kid." Naruto sighed in relief. He deftly took the headband, holding it with reverence. Slowly, he wrapped it around his head.

He looked up, and the man was looking at him with pity.

"Can I go now?" Naruto asked the man. He nodded, and walked over to push on the wall, it swung open to reveal the streets of Suna.

Slowly, Naruto walked out.

Very quickly, he felt familiar arms wrap around him.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Naruto." Togashi told him with kindness.

Naruto immediately hugged back. "Ni san."

"I thought you were in rice country?" He finally asked, pulling away.

Togashi shrugged. "Wanted to get back for your graduation."

Naruto nodded, and gently touched his new headband.

"Buddy?" Togashi asked. "You ok?"

Naruto nodded absentmindedly, and walked away.

"I should be getting to Kazekage tower. Rasa should know where I'm needed."

Togashi silently watched him walk away, he wanted to go after him, to comfort him through what he just went through, but he knew he had to do this on his own.

Naruto noticed at some point that his weapons and gloves were back, he assumed by now they were never gone.

 _Genjutsu._ His logical side told him.

When he had reached the tower, he was feeling a little better, and was able to fake the rest.

He walked in, casually waving at the receptionist, starting to walk his usual way up, but she grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back.

"Sorry Naruto, you still need your picture taken for Ninja Registration." He rolled his eyes, but complied.

Making sure to make a goofy face. He forced the woman to take the picture five more times before he finally did a serious one.

By the end of it, Naruto was barley containing his laughter, while she looked ready to murder him.

When finished, he rushed up the stairs to the top of the tower, waving to the on guard chunin who littered the way. Before long, he was banging on the Kazekage's door with reckless abandon.

"Hey! Hey Rasa-sama! Rasa-Sama open up! I got a bone to pick with you!" Naruto slammed his open palm on the door recklessly, waiting for someone to listen.

This went on for a good few minutes until, very quickly and suddenly, the door was ripped open to reveal Kankuro, looking sour as ever.

"What do you want, brat? Dads busy. Go away." Kankuro seemed extra grumpy today, so Naruto didn't even bother with him, knowing he wouldn't let him in.

Ducking under Kankuro's arm, and rolling out of reach from his grab, Naruto popped up in front of his Kazekage, quickly remembering to bow before he got started.

"Rasa-sama, my dude, what the hell?!" Naruto asked him with only the faintest hint of respect.

The Kazekage rolled his eyes. "Don't, 'my dude', me, genin. I didn't have to tell you anything about the final test. Just because my kids tolerate you doesn't give you special treatment."

"We more than tolerate him, Father." Came Gaara's voice from the back, near Kankuro.

Naruto definitely did _not_ jump three feet into the air, spin around, and ready a jutsu, anyone who tells you otherwise was a liar.

"Woou," Naruto breathed out. "Just you Gaara. And Temari."

Temari gave a two finger salute. "Yo." Was all she said. Naruto nodded back.

Gaara walked forward with little show, simply glaring at his father with a death stare.

"Why was I not informed about the test?" He simply said, threats looming behind his words.

"And what, pray tell," His father ground out. "Would you have done with the information?"

Gaara didn't waste a beat. "I would have told him." Rasa sighed, having expected that.

"Gaara, because of your," He struggled for words. "Circumstance,"

"You can say Biju, you know. Nobody in this rooms a civilian." Naruto piped up

Rasa glared at him with the heat of twenty desert suns. Naruto quickly shut up.

Turning back to his son, his expression softened a bit. "Gaara, because of your situation you never had to go through initiation, and thus were not made privy to it. And I did not tell you later because you would, of course, warn Naruto. Naruto, being as soft as he is, would have of course warned other students, Which would have ruined the entire project."

"A cruel and ruthless project that deters young minds to fight for Suna." Gaara snapped, sand starting to swirl around his feet.

Rasa looked at his son warily. While he no longer feared he would attack him, or any other Suna resident, he was not completely sure he wouldn't destroy a building or two, and either way he needed him stable for an upcoming mission.

Apparently, Naruto also sensed an issue as he moved to stand beside him, holding his shoulder.

"Hey, Gaara, its fine, nothing I can't handle." He said gently. Gaara's glare didn't die down.

"Gaara." Naruto said a little harder, hoping to get through the bubbling rage he knew was coming to the surface.

Gaaras glare didn't die down, but the swirling sand did. Abruptly, he turned to his blonde friend, choosing to ignore his father for the moment.

"We got you something, Naruto. A present for graduating the academy with such high grades, even if you did cheat sometimes."

It was said in such a bland, non threatening, way it took Naruto a few moments to remember his audience.

Hastily Naruto shoved his hand over Gaara's mouth, even though it was much too late. "SHHHH!" He stage whispered. "We got some very important ears listening." He pointed none to subtly at Rasa, who snorted.

"I'll pretend I, and all of the academy chunin, didn't know about your foolishness since it began then, Naruto."

Kankuro's eyes bugged. "You KNEW?" He asked incredulously.

Rasa nodded. "Of course. I allowed it to go on in the name of strengthening his stealth, thankfully, it worked, or else I would have had him kicked out of the program."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Rasa-sama's typical dramatic drawl, he was used to it by now.

"Ok whatever, not like it matters. I'm already rookie of the year. You guys know you di'nt have to get me anything, right?"

Temari kicked off the wall with a genuine smile. "No we kinda did. You're the closest person to us outside of immediate family, and you were there for Gaara when none of us were. You deserve it. Even if you are a dirty cheater." She teased at the end.

Kankuro smirked. "Yeah I guess the little twerp is ok. But I'm still gonna cream him one day for destroying my first puppet."

Naruto glared at the both of them, but decided to attack Temari. "I was only cheating so I could get on the team, you know that! And I didn't cheat that much, just with the boring stuff." He crossed his arms defensively.

Temari pulled something out of a storage scroll, tossing it easily to Naruto who caught it on instinct. Opening it up, Naruto gasped at the high quality fan he saw.

"It's made of chakra conductive metal, with a non lethal poisoned blade edge." Gaara told him helpfully.

"I know you've been having trouble channeling wind chakra through kunai and stuff, so we decided to get you something that would be easier." Temari added.

Naruto flipped the weapon open, looking at the beautifully painted sunset pattern on the chakra steel with awe.

Kankuro huffed in aggravation. "You have any idea how long it took to develop a new poison that no one had discovered yet? And a non lethal one at that?" Naruto nodded, he understood full well how difficult that would be.

 _And the cost alone_ He thought. _Developing poisons isn't cheap, so to do this all for me…_

Naruto felt tears well up behind his eyes, but ruthlessly pushed them back. It wouldn't do well to show weakness in front of the Kazekage.

Still, he gave a watery smile, eyes shining. "Thanks guys. Really. This means...so much to me."

Temari nodded pulling him into a noogie. "Aw come on, don't cry ya little stinker. Just take it and move on." Naruto scrambled out of her reach, pushing her away.

"I'm not crying blondie! Gaara's sand just got in my eye!"

"I have been keeping my sand purposefully well out of your vicinity, Naruto." Gaara said dryly.

"You're blonde too you moron!" Temari said, trying to bonk him on the head with her giant fan. Naruto leaned back hastily, raising his own fan to attack.

"You wanna go, blondie?!" Naruto yelled.

Temari looked like she might pop a blood vessel. "What did I just say!?" She shot back.

"You wanna take this outside?!"

"Maybe I do!"

"ENOUGH!" The booming voice of Rasa interrupted their squabbling.

Instantly, the Temari and Naruto stood at attention , backs straight and hands behind their back, looking guilty. Behind them, Kankuro smirked.

"Temari," He began, voice dangerous. "You were recently promoted to Chunin, if you do not take that title seriously, it will be removed. And Naruto," He turned to the genin. "There are a hundred shinobi that can take your place on this team, so either you show respect to my daughter, and your superior, or you will be sent to the Dayiamo to become a samurai."

They both nodded shamefully, much to Rasa's satisfaction.

"At least pretend to be professional in front of me." The Yondaime muttered under his breath, though Naruto still heard him.

"Now," He said. "You three," He looked at Gaara, Kankuro, and Naruto. "Have a mission in west Wind Country. Outside the village." He carefully handed the scroll to Naruto, who snatched it out of the air.

"A B-Rank?" Naruto said as he read the contents.

"No. We managed to convince the client to put it as a B-Rank the village could get paid more, but in reality it is a C-Rank." Rasa admitted.

"Your mission is to protect a civilian musician while she travels across the desert. Client has ties to the yakuza, and while we don't expect any resistance, the risk is great enough for us. You will meet Baki and the client at the village entrance, you have an hour to prepare."

He turned to his eldest child. "Temari, I have arranged for you to act as a bodyguard for the Daimyo. It will provide significant prestige to the village if I sent my own daughter to protect him, and will hopefully encourage him to fund the village."

Temari turned red. "Father, no! I want, no _need_ to be here for Sunagakure! Why don't you send Kankuro? He would love an easy, cushy job like that."

Kankuro glared at her, but didn't say anything, not wanting to get in the middle of things.

"Perhaps when Kankuro is of proper rank, but for now, this will be your station. You all are dismissed."

Naruto and Kankuro bowed swiftly, yet Temari stormed out of the room, Gaara simply stood and glared at his father.

Before things could escalate, Naruto and Kankuro tugged the short, skinny, redhead out of the room.

Silently, Rasa thought about his choice.

 _Temari will be miserable, but with the new alliance with Sound, and possible war with the Leaf, Temari must be safe, if I die, there must be someone to carry on the title of Kazekage,and she is the only one I trust._

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As the door closed, and they managed to make Gaara start walking on his own, the trio discussed Temari's situation.

"That really sucks for her. But what can you do?" Kankuro said flippantly, shrugging his shoulders and waving to a cute chunin girl he saw on the way down. She gave him a blank, unimpressed look.

"Indeed there is nothing we can do. We can simply send her our support through letters and messages." Gaara concluded, back to his stoic attitude.

"What if we went with her?" Naruto suggested. "Maybe give her some company?"

"No."

"Not happening."

Naruto huffed. "Clearly you two don't care much about your sisters happiness."

Neither of them said anything, making Naruto roll his eyes. He knew they cared, but growing up with Kazekage-sama as a father did nothing to help their already natural inclination to not give a shit.

They split up then, Naruto going to his apartment to get his scrolls sealed with his camping things, while Gaara and Kankuro could collect their own supplies. Agreeing to meet back in an hour, Naruto decided it wouldn't be too risky to head to the shop before he did.

Once at the shop, nothing more than a rickety kiosk on the side of the street, he got to the point quickly, understanding that the guy, Kai said his name tag, was looking to make a sale, not talk shop.

"I'm looking for a scroll on fighting with small battle fans, and a set of explosive notes, disguised as a book."

The shopkeep, a scraggly young man that couldn't have been older than 22, narrowed his eyes, "That will be 500 ryo for the fan thing, and 2,500 for the book."

"What?! That's theft!" Naruto protested.

The man stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Tough." He said simply.

Naruto took a breath to argue, but stopped when he took another look at him. He seemed tired, with a shallow face and bags under his eyes, there was a handkerchief in his chest pocket, which was covered in blood, _probably from coughing_ he thought, he was hiding his hands, Naruto realized, and taking a closer look, they were shaking. His little stand was completely full of random shinobi stuff, likely he hadn't gotten a sale in days, or even weeks.

Naruto hesitated, but had made his decision already, so there was no point.

"I'll give you 400 for the scroll, and 800 for the book, but thats as high as I can go. I don't have any more money." Naruto told Kai.

"Fine." He said, clearly desperate for something. Naruto dumped little Tabuki wallet on the counter, and the man practically threw the two items at him. As Naruto saw the man desperately count the small coins, Naruto felt bad. He knew what it was like to be poor, and knew this man likely needed all the help he could get.

The man nodded at him, looking despondent and and Naruto thanked him turning to jump away. Just before he did though, he felt the man rushing at him from behind the counter.

Spinning around and catching the wrist of the kitchen knife he was stabbing at Naruto, he easily pulled his skinny frame over the counter and slammed him into the ground mercilessly. Taking out some ninja wire, Naruto hastily wrapped the man's arms together, pinning him down.

Naruto looked up to see a few shell shocked civilians watching. "Hey you guys! Go get a ninja!" They just stared at him. "Now! Go!" quickly they ran off.

"I just wanted to pay for my bills. I just wanted to pay for my bills. And now they'll execute me." The man was muttering, tears dripping down to the dirt beneath him, and Naruto felt an odd sort of anger in his chest, but not at the man, no, at something else.

Even after the man had been taken into custody, and even later when he met up with Gaara and Kankuro, his words still bothered him.

They quickly took to the rooftops, Kankuro and Naruto slowing down considerably so Gaara could keep up.

"Come on Garra! Hurry up! Or atleast use your sand to catapult you or something!" Kankuro yeled at his little brother, tapping his foot on the dome roof of a building.

Gaara finally landed next to them, more than a little wobbly, and almost slipping off.

Gaara had finally started to learn the physical aspects of being a shinobi only recently, and not just the jutsu, as he had never needed anything other than his sand. Rasa though, insisted that one day someone would come along and defeat his sand barriers, and he would need to learn.

"I am _*gasp*_ not _*gasp*_ built for this." Gaara told Kankuro through ragged breaths.

Naruto absentmindedly patted his friend on the back. "Good thing where here, then"

Kankuro nodded, and together they jumped down and walked to Baki and their client, standing at the base of the stairs. Naruto slowly put his worries away as the mission cam closer and closer to him, literally steps away.

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 **Yeah...Sunas no joke. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review. The more people review, the faster I'll upload, and the longer the uploads will be. Thank you for reading and have a nice day.**


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